


sweet melody

by seothsayers



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Feelings Realization, Festivals, M/M, Sharing a Bed, band au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:28:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27139387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seothsayers/pseuds/seothsayers
Summary: “Yeah, great.” Mark’s voice cracks and he clears his throat, standing up straight. “Wasn’t looking where I was going apparently. Uh… your hair…”It’s an automatic response now. Whenever someone mentions it he lifts his fingers to touch it, running his hand through the blonde strands. Mark’s eyes track the movement and then he’s looking back at Johnny again, bag clutched to his chest, shoulders raised like he’s curling in on himself.“It was Donghyuck’s idea.” Johnny says.“Well it looks good.” Mark says. “Really good.”
Relationships: Mark Lee/Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 26
Kudos: 226





	sweet melody

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by blonde johnny bc... he's hot

Donghyuck shows up outside of Johnny’s hotel room at half eight in the evening holding a plastic bag in one hand and a pack of beers in the other. 

“Who let you buy alcohol?” Johnny asks, opening the door wider so Donghyuck can enter. 

“The United States government. Are you going to make this joke every time I see you? I’m 22 now.” Donghyuck reminds him. 

“Yes.” Johnny laughs. He knows he’s like one of those dad’s who keeps telling the same joke over and over that no-one else finds funny but he can’t help it. It’s become his brand. “What’s up?”

“Help me dye my hair.” Donghyuck shakes the plastic bag. 

“Don’t you have stylists for this kind of thing? Or you know, a hairdresser?” Johnny frowns, peering inside. There are multiple boxes of dye – he spots a deep purple one on top.

“Yeah but then we wouldn’t be able to drink and bond. I’m doing this for the  _ experience _ , Johnny. Besides, this is cheaper.” Donghyuck says. “I bought some dye for you too.”

“Oh, no way.” Johnny shakes his head. “I’m too old for that.”

“No you’re not.” Donghyuck snorts. “Come on, live a little. It’ll be fun!”

Johnny gives in, because of course he does. This is Donghyuck Lee, silver tongued frontman of  _ Summer Dreams _ . It was inevitable, really. 

Donghyuck lets Johnny pick the music so he goes for something upbeat that they can sing along to. The hotel bathroom is too cramped for them to be squashed in together dying each other’s hair – the downside to opting to room alone instead of sharing with one of the others – but Johnny has done worse things in even smaller bathrooms so they make it work. 

“Why purple?” Johnny asks whilst they wait for the colour to take. 

“Why not?” Donghyuck shrugs. “I’ve only ever dyed my hair red and I just wanted something different. Something eye catching.”

“Whose eyes are you trying to catch, exactly?” Johnny asks. 

“No-one in particular.” Donghyuck says, but through the mirror Johnny can see the faint pink tinge as it appears on his cheeks. 

“Right.” Johnny grins. He’d get it out of Donghyuck eventually. “Come on, let’s get this washed out.”

Donghyuck’s hair turns out pretty good and Johnny is quite pleased with himself. It had been a long time since he had dyed anyone’s hair – long gone are the days when they used to sit in his parents house and try to turn Taeyong’s head into a rainbow of colours. Donghyuck looks pleased, taking a bunch of selfies before he sets his phone down on the counter and turns to Johnny. 

“What colour are you giving me?” Johnny asks, peering into the bag.

“Blonde.” Donghyuck holds up the box with a sharp grin. 

“Blonde.” Johnny repeats. “Are you serious?”

“I have a specific look in mind.” Donghyuck holds up his fingers into a frame and looks through them with one eye. “It’s going to look great, trust me.”

“Against my better judgement I do,” Johnny sighs. “Do your worst.”

…

When Johnny walks into Ten and Yuta’s hotel room the next morning, Doyoung laughs in his face. 

“Wow. Aren’t you a little old to be going for the surfer boy look?” He asks, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Don’t be rude, Doie.” Taeyong comes up behind him and pinches Doyoung’s arm. “I think it looks good.”

“Who are you trying to impress?”

“I’m not trying to impress anyone.” Johnny sighs. He ducks into the bathroom to run his hands through it. Donghyuck had left his roots, but bleached the rest and then went over it with a honey blonde. It didn’t look bad, but it was definitely different. Doyoung was right, he did kind of look like a surfer. “Donghyuck wanted me to help him dye his hair and because he’s a convincing little shit, he got me to do mine too.”

“The fans are going to love it.” Taeyong says. 

  
  
  


They aren’t on stage until the third day of the festival so Johnny decides to make the most of the free time he has and try to cram in as many shows as possible. Taeyong comes along for the ride, the two of them trying to be incognito as possible as they watch new acts on the small stages show the world what they’ve got. 

If he particularly likes them, Johnny makes sure to give them a follow on their socials and download their discography so he can give them another listen later. Johnny remembers what it was like to stand on the stage and feel like the people in the tent in front of you were either going to make or break your career – the least he can do with his platform is give spotlight to those starting out. 

They definitely get spotted by a few fans – a few years ago they had managed to sneak by unnoticed but Johnny can feel eyes on him as they stand out of the way at the back of the tent. He has a hat pulled down over his head and sunglasses covering his eyes but his height and Taeyong’s bright eyes are a dead giveaway to those who follow them. They manage to get by without too much trouble, with only a few fans coming up to ask them for pictures and autographs. Johnny makes a mental note to check the reactions to his hair online later. 

As the evening starts to creep in, they head to the main stage. Around the back things are busy, the staff running around making sure everything’s in place and organised. Over the din, Johnny can hear the familiar loud vocal warm ups Donghyuck once spent a whole summer doing at stupid o’clock in the morning on their tour bus, so it doesn’t take him long to track them down. 

Most of the members of  _ Summer Dreams _ are gathered together when Johnny reaches them, and Donghyuck spots him instantly, waving him over. 

“Wow, Johnny! Looking good!” Jaemin comes rushing forward to pull Johnny into a big hug. 

“Thanks.” Johnny laughs. “How have you been?”

“Busy in the studio,” Jaemin says. He leans closer and looks around conspiratorially. “Between you and me we may have a surprise EP dropping late next month.”

Johnny’s eyebrows shoot up. “Oh? Hyuck kept that one quiet.” 

“Like I said, between me and you.” Jaemin nudges him and grins playfully.

Johnny’s catching up with Jeno when there’s a loud thud and they all spin around. It’s Mark, the contents of his backpack spilled all over the floor. “Oh, shit.” 

Johnny steps forward to help him. There are a bunch of notebooks that he knows have been with Mark for years, songs written back in high school that Mark carried with him everywhere just in case the lyrics came to be of use again someday. Johnny hands them over, frowning when he notices Mark’s red cheeks. “You good?”

“Yeah, great.” Mark’s voice cracks and he clears his throat, standing up straight. “Wasn’t looking where I was going apparently. Uh… your hair…”

It’s an automatic response now. Whenever someone mentions it he lifts his fingers to touch it, running his hand through the blonde strands. Mark’s eyes track the movement and then he’s looking back at Johnny again, bag clutched to his chest, shoulders raised like he’s curling in on himself. 

“It was Donghyuck’s idea.” Johnny says. 

“Well it looks good.” Mark says. “Really good.”

“Thanks Mark.” Johnny smiles and Mark seems to relax, shoulders dropping. He swings his backpack over his shoulder and fixes the beanie on his head. “Ready to head out onto stage? It’s almost your turn.”

“Hell yeah,” Mark grins. “I missed this.”

“Well I’m sure you’ll kill it out there.” Johnny pats his shoulder. “I’ll find you at the hotel or something later, yeah? We can catch up on what you were up to out in LA.”

“Sure.” Mark nods. “See you later.”

“Good luck!” Johnny calls after him, and then they’re gone. 

  
  


_ Summer Dreams _ put on a killer show. They always do. The first time Johnny had seen them perform half of them had only just turned eighteen. Their confidence was overflowing even back then as they performed the songs they wrote together over lunch at school and in the music room.  _ Summer Dreams  _ had rightfully taken the world by storm and five years on, things just kept on getting better for them. 

“Takes you back doesn’t it.” Taeyong nudges Johnny and nods at the stage. 

“Reminds me how old we’re getting.” Johnny responds and Taeyong rolls his eyes. 

“If you carry on that way you’ll be grey before you’re thirty.” Taeyong retorts. “Twenty-seven isn’t old. We still have plenty of years left ahead of us.”

“You talk so much shit Johnny. We all know there’s nothing else you’d rather be doing.” Yuta pipes up, throwing an arm over his shoulder. “You love this shit, old man. The only time you’ll ever stop is when you’re dead.”

Johnny rolls his eyes, but Yuta’s right. Johnny would never give this up. Their sound might change, the fans might drift away but the music itself would always remain. They will always be the same kids who sat around in Ten’s parents’s garage and decided to form a band, even when they’re old and grey and no longer touring. It’s the only life he wants to live. 

  
  
  


Johnny doesn’t manage to catch any of the members of  _ Summer Dreams _ until much later, when the sun has long gone down and he’s made himself at home in the hotel bar with a whiskey. He’s watching Ten flirt with the bassist of a rock band he’s met a few times before – Sicheng, if he remembers correctly – when Mark walks over, two beer bottles in hand. 

“Here.” He says, sliding one over to Johnny. He has changed out of the shirt and jeans he was wearing earlier into a loose t-shirt with  _ Summer Dream _ ’s logo, a yellow sun in a mass of white clouds, emblazoned on the front. It had been designed by a friend of the band and fellow musician, Renjun, and it was good stuff. Mark was always in it, but Johnny always saw that as a good thing – the people who wore their own merch were always trustworthy. 

“You’re a star.” Johnny drains the last of his glass before pulling the bottle closer. “You killed it on stage today too.”

Mark looks so happy, riding the last of the adrenaline from their performance. Johnny knows exactly how he feels – there’s something different about performing at a festival, in the open air with a crowd that bought tickets maybe not to see you but are loving what you’re showing them anyway. It’s magical. 

“Thanks man.” Mark grabs at Johnny’s forearm, hands warm and fingers calloused against Johnny’s skin. “I can’t wait for your guys’ stage on Sunday. You’re going to close out this whole festival with such a bang.”

Johnny laughs. “We’ll definitely try. What about you guys though, tell me about LA.” The last they had seen each other was right at the beginning of summer when the band had stopped by Chicago for a weekend before they flew away to the other side of the country for a holiday/writing retreat. 

“Dude, it was so good.” Mark says. “It’s a really different vibe to Canada, you know? I think writing some place different can just open up a whole new world of possibilities.” 

“You up to showing me anything?” Johnny says. “Those short clips you sent me over the summer sounded good. They sounded happy.”

Mark smiles. “I was happy. We all were. The trip was good for us. Ever since we took off we’ve been working non-stop. This is the first time we got to properly relax.”

Mark glances around the room. They’re alone at the table, members of their bands scattered across the bar with other musicians and managers. Mark reaches into the pocket of his jeans and pulls out his phone and earphones, handing one over to Johnny. 

Johnny has to suppress a smile as he takes it. Only Mark would come down to the hotel bar with a pair of earphones. There were probably a dozen other handy miscellaneous items stashed in those pockets too. 

“This stays between us,” Mark says. “The others will kill me if they find out I let you listen to this stuff so close to the release.”

Johnny keeps quiet about the fact that Jaemin had already spilled the news and mimics zipping his mouth shut. “Secret’s safe with me.”

Mark plays him a good minute of each song, muttering anecdotes as they move through the track list. “Hyuck wrote this one,” and “I wrote this after we went to the beach at midnight.” Mark’s eyes are alive with excitement and it makes Johnny smile. It’s endearing, but then again, most things about Mark were. 

“It’s going to be a hit.” Johnny tells him, hanging Mark back the headphone bud. “Seriously, you guys just keep getting better.”

“Thanks.” Mark grins and runs a hand through his hair. The beanie’s gone now, his black strands sticking up wildly. Johnny reaches over to smooth them down and Mark makes a quiet noise of surprise, jumping under his touch. 

Johnny drops a hand and takes a swig of his beer. “So, will you tell me who Donghyuck’s trying to impress with his new hair?”

Mark sits up. “Oh! You met Yangyang right? Drummer for  _ Nova Tide _ ? They met up at the end of summer. They’ve been texting. He’s not here to perform but I’m pretty sure he came along anyway.”

“To see Hyuck?” Johnny whistles. “Interesting.”

Mark laughs. “I know right. He seems like a nice dude though. He makes Hyuck happy.”

“Good.” Johnny says. “I don’t want to be one of those guys who pulls the big brother card, but…”

Mark snorts. “The guy’s in a band with Renjun. If he has to worry about anyone coming for his neck if he broke Donghyuck’s heart, it would be him.”

Ten comes waltzing over then, a wicked grin on his face. 

“What have you done?” Johnny asks. 

Ten ignores him and goes straight to Mark, pulling him into a tight hug and ruffling his hair, messing it up again. “Mark Lee! It’s been too long, I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Mark hugs him back. “What have you done though – Johnny’s right, you’ve got that look on your face.”

“I’m innocent.” Ten protests, but he rolls his eyes when Johnny shoots him a look. “It’s nothing big. Just got the cute guy’s number.”

“Nice.” Mark high-fives Ten. 

“I’m sure he’ll regret it the minute you start pestering him with a hundred texts a day.” Johnny says. 

“Don’t be silly, I’ll start off slow, test out the waters. When I know he’s interested, then it’s time.” Ten wiggles his eyebrows. 

“Time for what?” Mark asks. 

“To send him pictures of my cats, of course!” Ten pulls out his phone with a gasp. “Mark you need to come and visit soon so you can meet Louis and Leon.”

“That is not where I thought that sentence was going to go.” Johnny says. “I’m pleasantly surprised.”

“I’m reformed.” Ten says. “Mostly. There’ll be a few sexy pictures in there too, if he wants to see them.” 

They’re joined by various others as the night goes on. Doyoung and Yuta drag Johnny into doing shots and he spends a little bit of time lightly grilling Yangyang when he’s pulled over to the booth he and Donghyuck are cosied up in. Donghyuck’s cheeks are flushed, but he looks happy and that’s all Johnny needs to know. He leaves them be and circles back to Mark who is surrounded by Jeno and Jaemin, both already drunk. It takes the two of them to wrangle Jaemin up to his hotel room, Jeno skipping down the corridor ahead of them, and then they head back down to the bar for another round. 

“To us.” Taeyong raises his glass. “May this weekend be fucking fantastic for as all.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Johnny says, knocking his and Mark’s shot glasses together before downing it. 

…

Johnny wakes up with a light hangover, but otherwise he’s feeling decent. On today’s agenda is mostly interviews – there are a couple of music magazines and Youtube channels around that have requested to talk to them. His phone is buzzing all morning, Donghyuck gushing about Yangyang in their group chair whilst Jaemin complains that he’s never drinking again whilst Jeno calls him out on his lie. 

The morning turns out to be pretty good. Johnny gets a dozen compliments on his hair (to which he smugly turns to Doyoung about, because Taeyong was right, the fans do love it) and they play an interesting game of Truth or Dare where Ten is forced to confess he’s streaked naked whilst drunk more than once. 

Johnny’s not expecting to bump into Mark but he does, quite literally. Mark comes barrelling towards him as they’re on their way out of one of the tents and they crash into each other, Johnny gripping onto Mark’s flannel shirt to stop him going down on the muddy ground. 

“Slow down Mark,” Johnny laughs. 

“I thought I was going to miss you so I had to run.” Mark says. “I have a podcast thing in like thirty minutes and I’m absolutely bricking it, will you come with me?”

“Me?” Johnny raises his eyebrows and points at his chest. “Do you not want one of the other guys to come with you?”

“Donghyuck and Yangyang are on a date, Jeno’s at the merch stand and Jaemin’s doing another interview.” Mark explains. “This is the first time I’m doing something like this alone and I just… it would be really comforting if someone I trusted was there. Just in case.” The nervousness is clear on Mark’s face – he’s chewing at his lower lip and his brow is furrowed as he looks at Johnny’s face. 

“Sure, I’ll come with you.” Mark instantly relaxes. “Let me just tell the others where I’m going and then we can head off.”

“Thank you so much.” Mark says. “I owe you big time.”

“It’s nothing.” Johnny says, because it isn’t. Johnny would do anything to help out Mark. 

The podcast is being recorded a little further out, away from all the noise of the festival. Johnny recognises the woman hosting it instantly, Wendy. They’d done a number of interviews with her over the years and she was super friendly and engaging. She’d look after Mark fine. 

“I’ll sit over there, out of your way.” Johnny gestures to one of the seats lining the room. 

“You can sit up at the table.” Wendy says. “There’s plenty space.”

“I don’t want to be a distraction.” Johnny protests, but Mark’s shaking his head. 

“You won’t be,” He says. 

_ The Velvet Room _ is all about the behind the scenes of the music process – life in the studio, song writing, record mixing. Wendy eases Mark into the discussion with a bright smile and Johnny watches as Mark settles down. Soon the words are flowing out of him, and he runs through the process of how he writes, how long he’s been writing for, how he likes to record melodies. 

“Actually, I picked that up from Johnny.” Mark says, and Johnny raises his eyebrows, pointing towards himself.  _ Me _ ? He mouths, and Mark laughs. 

“For all those wondering we actually have Johnny Suh from  _ Simmer Down  _ here with us.” Wendy explains into the mic. “Do you want to explain your melody process?”

Johnny shakes his head. “This is all about Mark. You can ask me another time.”

“Just tell them dude, you might as well whilst you’re here.” Mark says, and so Johnny accepts the mic Wendy is holding out in his direction and starts talking. 

It’s fun to do an interview with Mark. Johnny’s never done anything like it with anyone outside of the band, not on his own anyway. Wendy seems content to let him and Mark bounce off one another and talk about the first time they met and  _ Summer Dreams  _ supporting them on tour a few years back. 

When the interview comes to an end, Wendy snaps a bunch of pictures of the three of them and posts them onto  _ The Velvet Room _ ’s socials. When Johnny checks his phone the notifications are already rolling in. 

“Thanks for coming with me man.” Mark says as they leave the tent. “I’m used to having Hyuck or Jaemin there to fill the lulls in the conversation, it’s a bit weird having to do it all myself.”

“Don’t worry about it, you did great.” Johnny tells him. “It’ll take some time but you’ll get used to doing things on your own, and until then, you’ve got me.”

Mark grins. “What are you doing now? Going to check out some more music?”

“I’m going to head to the merch tent actually,” Johnny says. “Wanna come with?”

“Yeah, why not.” Mark says, running a hand through his hair. “Let’s go.”

  
  


“Mark!” Yuta wraps his arms around Mark like an octopus, nuzzling into his neck. Mark laughs. “How was the podcast?”

“Good,” Mark nods. “How are things here?”

“Selling like hot cakes.” Yuta rubs his hands together. “Although we’ll definitely sell more now we’ve got your handsome faces here.” He squashes Mark’s cheeks between his hands. 

Mark snorts and shoves him off. “Right.” 

The crowd starts to build when people notice they’re hanging out and Johnny puts on his winning smile to talk to the fans. There’s just something about festivals, about weekends like this that feels so freeing. To be able to interact with people outside of social media and being able to spend time with them individually. It’s one of the reasons Johnny will always love what he does. 

“Twitter is popping off.” Taeyong slings an arm around Johnny’s waist and squeezes it. “That picture of you, Mark and Wendy is cute.”

“What are they saying?” Johnny asks. 

“How great your hair looks, how good you and Mark look with each other. The usual.”

Johnny raises an eyebrow. “You call that the usual?”

“Yeah.” Taeyong laughs. “I don’t know how you haven’t noticed, people love the two of you together. They’re always talking about it whenever you post something with the two of you on your Instagram.” 

“Huh.” Johnny glances over to where Mark’s stood, talking to a bunch of fans with that bright eyed enthusiasm that seems integral to who he is. Mark’s handsome, he always has been – the past few years it has been especially noticeable as he’s grown more confident in who he is as a person. Johnny’s aware of all that, he has just never thought about the two of them together like  _ that _ .

“Don’t think too hard.” Taeyong pats Johnny’s butt and pulls away. “I agree with them though. You do look good together.”

  
  


The comment sticks with Johnny for the rest of the day. He spends another hour at the merch tent, signing things for fans and taking pictures before he heads off to see some of the later music stages. 

Mark is… Mark. He is funny, smart, hardworking and thoughtful. Johnny trusts him wholeheartedly and he feels like it runs both ways – Mark had asked  _ him _ of all people to accompany him to the podcast recording after all. 

Johnny spends longer than he wants to admit scrolling back through his Instagram to find all the pictures he’d posted with Mark and read the comments. There’s one from the beginning of summer, taken in the bathroom of a club, the two of them dressed up from when they’d all went out to celebrate Donghyuck’s birthday. There’s another, Mark photobombing one of the pictures Jaemin had taken of him against a graffitied wall. A third – a candid of the two of them from the year before, in the studio working on music. 

The comments are a mixed bag: a bunch of hearts, oh my gods, and cutes scattered in amongst the “wow you two are visual legends” and “are they dating???” and “they just look so good together”s. Johnny truly had never noticed before, but maybe he just hadn’t been paying attention. 

  
  
  


They’re all crammed into the  _ Summer Dreams _ hotel room later that night. They order room service and drinks and chat, everyone squashed on the double beds or out on the mini balcony. 

Johnny’s on his way out of the bathroom when Mark knocks over his beer bottle – luckily an empty one – and stumbles as he bends down to pick it up. 

“You good?” Johnny says, grabbing a hold of Mark before he topples over. 

“I’m good.” Mark says. He smiles brightly. “I’m great.”

Johnny laughs. “I’m glad.”

“I’m also really tired.” He leans his head back against the wall and looks around the room. “But this is mine and Hyuck’s room and I don’t want to kick everyone out.”

“You can just crash somewhere else, we’ve got plenty of hotel rooms between the lot of us.” Johnny says. He hesitates before adding, “You can crash in mine. There’s only one bed though.”

“That’s fine.” Mark says. “I just wanna sleep.”

“Okay.” Johnny grabs a few of Mark’s things – his glasses case, his phone charger and an extra pillow – and leads him towards the door. 

Doyoung raises an eyebrow at them on their way out. 

“He wants to sleep.” Johnny says. “I’m taking him to my room.”

Doyoung nods and waves goodbye. They head down the corridor, Mark trying and failing to walk in a straight line and laughing when he nearly crashes into the wall. Johnny’s room is only a floor down so they make it there quickly and Mark flops down onto the bed with a sigh. 

“Johnny?”

“Hm?”

Mark sticks his feet up in the air and points at his shoes. “Help?”

Johnny snorts and makes his way over, tugging off Mark’s trainers. “You’re so drunk you can’t take off your own shoes now?”

“No I’m just tired.” Mark says. “My arms feel like jelly.”

“Do you want to borrow something to wear?” Johnny asks once Mark’s shoes are on the floor. “I can probably find you something.”

Mark shakes his head. “I’ll manage.” He begins to undo his belt and Johnny glances away. It doesn’t matter anyway – there’s a mirror directly opposite the bed and he can see Mark attempting to wriggle out of his jeans from his lying down position. It takes him a few minutes but he succeeds and collapses back into the bed with a sigh. 

Mark closes his eyes. “Goodnight.” 

“Don’t you want to get under the cover?” Johnny can’t help but smile at the way Mark is stretched out on the duvet like a starfish. “There’s not much room for me if you’re going to lie like that.” 

Mark opens one eye and glances over at Johnny. “I guess I could make room. ‘S your bed after all.”

Johnny laughs. “Exactly. Shove over.” He says before heading into the bathroom. 

By the time he reemerges, Mark is under the duvet, eyes shut and breathing softly. Johnny’s quiet as he moves around the room, putting their phones on charge and setting an alarm for the next morning. He climbs in beside Mark and shuts his eyes. 

He hears the rustle of the duvet, but doesn’t expect Mark to roll up beside him, an arm thrown over Johnny’s bare chest, one ankle hooked around one of Johnny’s own. Johnny opens his eyes and glances over but Mark’s eyes are still closed. 

Johnny listens as Mark’s breathing evens out. He looks so peaceful, eyes closed and dead to the world, and Johnny has half a mind to take a picture. He doesn’t – his phone is over at the other side of the room for one, and two, would it be weird? It was definitely weird. He shrugs it off and commits the image to memory instead. 

Johnny feels warm deep down in his core as he falls asleep. 

…

Johnny wakes up with a jolt to the sound of his alarm the next morning. He groans and runs his hand over his face – he hadn’t drunk that much the night before, but he’d still drunk enough to wake up feeling gross. 

He frowns as he notices the spot beside him is empty. The toilet flushes and he turns towards the bathroom door. Mark stumbles out a few moments later, jumping when he notices Johnny sat up in the bed. 

“Morning.” Johnny says. 

Mark holds his arms around himself. “Hey.” He moves around the room to pick his jeans up from where Johnny had folded them on the side the night before. “Thanks for letting me stay here last night.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Johnny waves a hand. “It’s not the first time it’s happened.”

“And uh… sorry for getting all up in your space.” Mark looks embarrassed as he scratches at his head. His eyes are trained on the wall behind Johnny’s head. “Guess I forgot who I was rooming with.”

“It’s fine Mark, really.” Johnny says. He gets up out of the bed and stretches his arms over his head. “I’ve roomed with Ten before and he’s literally pushed our beds together and still managed to shove me off the edge. A little cuddling is nothing.”

“Right.” Mark’s eyes drop down past his face and focus on his chest. “Well, I’ll see you later. I should probably go and shower.”

“Are you coming to watch our stage tonight?” Johnny asks. 

“Of course.” Mark’s eyes finally snap back up to meet Johnny’s and there’s a strained smile on his face. “Yup. I’ll catch you later!”

Johnny frowns as Mark collects his things and speeds out of the door. There’s something bothering him, that much is obvious. Johnny is frozen in place, debating whether he should text Mark or maybe go upstairs and speak to him when his alarm goes off again. 

Johnny leaves it and decides to get in the shower instead. He’d find Mark later, once they’d both gotten some food in them and maybe then he would be more open to talking. 

Once he’s ready, he heads down to breakfast to see the others sat around the table, already eating. 

“Big day today.” Taeyong raises his glass of orange juice once Johnny’s sat down. “Let’s kill it.” 

They all clink their drinks together and then Johnny digs into his food. He can already feel the anticipation starting to run through his body and he finds himself tapping his foot off the floor, checking the clock even though seconds had passed since the last time he’d done so. He was going to be buzzing all day until he got on stage and then, when they were finally there, he was going to explode. 

They are just finishing up when Donghyuck approaches the table, smiling at everyone before he turns to Johnny. 

“Hey can I grab you for a second?” Donghyuck says, linking their arms together. 

“Only if you return him in one piece.” Doyoung responds. 

“No promises.” Donghyuck sticks out his tongue and tugs on Johnny’s arm, leading him to a quieter area in the lobby. 

“Is everything okay?” Johnny asks. 

“Did something happen last night between you and Mark?” Donghyuck asks, dropping down into one of the available chairs. 

“No.” Johnny frowns. “We got back to the room and went straight to bed. He was acting a bit weird this morning before he left.”

“Yeah, he was acting weird when he came back to the room too.” Donghyuck frowns. “I just wanted to ask. He said everything was fine, but you know Mark. Once something gets under his skin it festers until he talks about it.”

“If anyone can get it out of him, it’s you.” Johnny says. 

Donghyuck sighs. “Yeah… I just don’t know if I’m the right person to do it at the moment.”

Johnny frowns. “Is there anything I can do?”

“I’ll get back to you on that one.” Donghyuck says, standing up. “Thanks anyway.”

“Keep me updated?” Johnny asks. 

“Of course.” Donghyuck smiles. 

  
  
  


Johnny doesn’t see any of the members of  _ Summer Dreams _ or anyone else that matter for the rest of the morning. They lie low for most of the day anyway, keeping away from the crowds and hanging around backstage. 

Johnny feels something tight in the pit of his stomach. He knows it’s nothing to do with performing – he gets a tiny bit nervous before he steps out onto the stage but this isn’t anything like the pre-show jitters, this is something else entirely – something decidedly Mark shaped. 

“You good?” Yuta asks, stepping up beside him. “If you keep frowning like that your face is going to stick that way.”

“Haha, very funny.” Johnny rolls his eyes. “I’m worried about Mark.” He admits quietly. “I think I might have done something to bother him but I don’t know what.”

Yuta raises his eyebrows. “Have you spoke to him?” 

Johnny shakes his head. “Haven’t really had the chance. Donghyuck said he’d get back to me about it all.”

Yuta crosses his arms. “Well this is Mark we’re talking about. If there is something you’ve done, he’ll come around and talk to you about it. He might just need a minute or two to pull everything together.” 

“Yeah, you’re right.” Johnny sighs. 

“Besides, this is  _ you _ we’re talking about Johnny. You’re one of the people he knows he can go to, no matter what. Whatever it is, you’ll find out eventually.” Yuta says. “Just give him some time.”

Johnny doesn’t have to wait too long. They’re less than twenty minutes from heading onto the stage when Johnny spots Donghyuck’s mop of purple hair and Mark’s familiar blue beanie following behind him. Donghyuck shoots him a thumbs up when he sees Johnny looking over and then shoves Mark in his direction. 

Johnny watches as Mark makes his way through the crowds of staff, shooting smiles at the others before he finds his way to Johnny. 

“Hey.” He says. 

“Hey,” Johnny responds. 

“I know you have like, absolutely no time at all but can I talk to you for a minute?” Mark says. “I’ll make it as quick as I can.”

“I’m in hot demand today, apparently.” Johnny chuckles. Mark gives him a questioning look and Johnny waves a hand. “Never mind. Lead the way.”

Mark takes him a little distance away from the rest of the group. There’s no real place to have a private conversation around here, not with all the staff and artists moving back and forth. 

“So.” Mark says. 

“So?”

“Your hair looks really good.” Mark says. 

“Thank you?” Johnny wasn’t sure where this was going. “You’ve already told me that.”

“Yeah, well I’m telling you again.” Mark says. “Your hair looks really good, the blonde is hot and I had to lock myself in the bathroom this morning because I realised I’d been cuddling you all night and you were virtually naked.”

Mark takes in a deep breath. “What I’m trying to say is I’ve had the biggest crush on you for years and I thought I was doing a pretty good job of dealing with it but this weekend it just decided to sucker punch me right in the face.” He smiles, a little strained. “I just needed to get it off my chest. If this is the end of our friendship, so be it, it’s been a good run –”

“Woah, woah stop, Mark, stop.” Johnny holds up his hands. “What?” 

Mark looks down at his feet. “Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“No, I mean – I would never end our friendship over something like this. You’re too important to me, Mark.” Johnny says. 

“Oh.” Mark relaxes a little at that. 

“And I –”

“Johnny!” He turns to see Taeyong waving him over. “We’re going on stage.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Johnny mutters. He turns back to Mark. “Mark –”

“Go.” Mark tells him. “You can’t be late, everyone’s waiting for you.”

Johnny closes his eyes. He wishes he could stop time, just so he could say everything he needed to and say it  _ right _ .

“Stay here.” Johnny tells him. “We’ll finish talking when we’re done, I promise.”

Mark nods. “I’ll be waiting.” He says. 

Johnny speeds back over to the group. Ten frowns and presses his hand to Johnny’s brow. “You good?” He asks. 

“I don’t have an answer to that right now,” Johnny says honestly. 

“Are you good to go on stage?” Ten looks more worried. 

“Yeah, I’m good.” Johnny nods. It’s not a music problem, it’s a  _ him _ problem.Ten drops his hand, but the frown is still there. “Let’s put on a show.”

Their set is almost perfect. The crowd are so responsive, screaming along the lyrics to their songs and cheering loudly during the short breaks they take to swap guitars and talk to those listening. 

Johnny’s distracted though. He has Mark on his mind, running through his veins. He strums away at his guitar, pick pressed between his lips and tries to get lost in the set, in the melody and the lyrics, but he can’t. 

He’s a little frustrated – the timing was awful and if Mark had come a little earlier, they might have been able to resolve things quicker, but Johnny knew that Mark had become because he was ready. Then he starts to question himself – would they have resolved it quicker? Johnny didn’t know what to think. He was honest with Mark – he was  _ so  _ important to Johnny. Johnny would never give up what they had just because he didn’t feel the same way. 

But that’s the thing – it’s not that Johnny doesn’t feel the same way, because he knows he feels something. It’s not a full blown crush, but then he thinks about it again and wonders just how long he had been looking at Mark like this, as someone he loved and cherished so deeply that it transcended the friendships he had with everyone else and reached some higher plane altogether. 

He doesn’t have time to analyse every single interaction they’ve had in the years they’ve known each other, doesn’t even have time to be thinking about this at all whilst he’s on stage but he does. Whilst he plays, Johnny thinks about everything that had happened that weekend – the way Mark had stumbled over his words when he had first seen Johnny’s hair, the way he had asked Johnny of all people to support him by coming along to record the podcast. Last night when he had been affectionate in bed, the alcohol tearing down every last wall of Mark’s and earlier that morning when he’d rushed out in a panic. It’s obvious now he thinks about it. 

The set comes to an end, the crowd chanting their name. Johnny feels like he remembers nothing from the past hour. His mind is all Mark, Mark, Mark. He knows there is one thing he needs to take away from all of this: Johnny doesn’t want to live a day in his life going forward without Mark by his side. 

He rushes off stage, the others looking at him with concern. Johnny scans the backstage area until he spots Mark looking down at his phone in the corner. 

Johnny strides through the crowd of people to reach him. “Hey.” He says. 

Mark looks up. “Hey. You guys killed that set –”

Johnny leans down to kiss him. It’s impulsive, it’s nerve-wracking, but mostly importantly, it’s a statement. A promise. A vow. 

Mark freezes in shock for a moment but then he’s grabbing the collar of the stupid floral print shirt Doyoung had forced Johnny into (“to complete the surfer look”, he had said, very obviously trying not to laugh) and pulling him even closer. Johnny cups Mark’s face with both his hands and holds on for dear life. 

There’s a wolf whistle in the background and Johnny is brought back to the moment. He pulls away to see everyone watching them – Taeyong, Yuta, Doyoung, Ten, Donghyuck, even Yangyang – all in various states of amusement and surprise. 

Mark clears his throat. His cheeks are pink and his tongue darts out to lick at his lips. “Well. That’s a bit embarrassing.”

“I don’t care what they think.” Johnny says. “I’m not going anywhere, if you’ll have me.”

The way Mark pulls him down into another kiss is more than enough of an answer. 

**Author's Note:**

> bands for reference:  
> \- simmer down (punk rock): johnny on lead guitar, ty on rhythm guitar, doyoung on keys/vocals, yuta on vocals/bass, ten on drums  
> \- summer dreams (pop punk): hyuck on vocals, mark on lead guitar, jeno on drums, jaemin on bass  
> \- nova tide (more electric/synth): renjun on vocals/keys, yangyang on drums
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/seothsayers)


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